Captain Scott's on Cov mission

British champion Scott Nicholls hopes to lead Coventry back up the Elite League Speedway table

British champion Scott Nicholls is looking to play his part in leading Coventry back up the Elite League Speedway table next season.

Nicholls will return to Brandon in 2013, having agreed a deal with promoter Mick Horton, and will also regain the club captaincy he held during the Bees’ golden era of 2005-07
when they won a succession of major trophies.

And
with Horton stating he also wants to bring in a No.1 rider, it places a
huge question mark over former skipper Chris Harris, who has been strongly linked with several other clubs in the last week.

Nicholls
is the fourth member of this year’s season-ending team to return and although they did complete the campaign in reasonable form Horton will surely look to make some changes to a team which finished with only Wolverhampton and Belle Vue below them in the table.

Nicholls said: “I’m very pleased to sign for Coventry again.

‘‘It’s
a club which has a lot of good memories for me even though things didn’t go so well this season, and it’s good to be back.

“It
does happen in speedway, you look at the team we had this year and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t have made the play-offs.

‘‘But a few little things went against us and we lost a lot of meetings by only a few points.

“Hopefully
we won’t have another season where that happens and I’d like to think that by taking the captain’s role I can have a positive influence on things as well. We’ll all need to pull together as a team, and with whoever else comes in I’m sure we can have a good atmosphere and challenge for the play-offs.”

n FORMER Wolverhampton rider and manager Dave Parry says the club are facing up to a vital season in 2013.

Parry has had a change of heart and agreed to back the club again through his international coach tour business Parrys International.

It’s
a record-breaking 13th successive season he has sponsored the side – and he’s revealed he snubbed the chance only a month ago.

“I told them it was the end,” said the Cheslyn Hay businessman.

“But
I revisited the situation and came up with a performance related deal which rewards them for reaching the play-offs, which they need to do.

“The
more successful we are the more appearances we will make on Sky and that means great exposure. It’s a massive year for the club after two seasons of failure.”

n BIRMINGHAM
co-promoter Graham Drury has confirmed popular Perry Barr trio Danny King, Josh Auty and Nico Covatti are all set for a return to the club next season.

He’s also waiting to clarify the situation regarding Ben Barker but retains hope if finalising a deal with parent club Coventry to bring him back for a third season.

The club have also made progress behind the scenes with a new No.1 rider who they say is sure to excite the fans.